Ink fountain for printing presses



I a i5, 1935. J. E. MCMULLEN INK FOUNTAIN yFOR PRINTING PRESSES v Filed Aug. 5l, 1934 l 8 s 5 y.j. 57 TPV LU/ 7 f 1ML i y 5 A I' [59 l;

#7555/5 Effi/7U im G meQ/.

Patented Oct. 15, 1935 UNHTEB STATES PATENT OFFICE 11 Claims.

'I'his invention appertains to printing presses and the like, and more particularly to novel means for facilitating the feeding of ink to the inking rolls.

Great inconveniences are associated with the use of ink fountains now in general use on printing presses, in that the ink tends to thicken toward the bottom of the fountain, and thus the free flow of the ink is prevented. Likewise, in

some types of fountains, the fountains have to 'be manually opened when the presses start operating, and manually closed when the presses are shut off, and as the fountains are generally inconveniently located the job is a laborious one.

Diiiiculty is also experienced when two differently colored inks are mixed to obtain a certain desired color cr shade, in that the ink has to be manually stirred and the dierent colors tend to separate when the ink sets in the fountain for a length of time, which prevents the delivery of a uniformly colored ink.

It is therefore one of the salient objects of my invention to provide an ink fountain, in which the ink, during the running of the press, is automatically agitated so as to keep the ink in a free flowing condition and to permit the automatic and thorough mixing of differently colored inks to obtain a uniform color or shade.

A further object of my invention is to provide novel means for constructing and locating the agitator relative to the wall of the fountain, whereby the agitator will have a tendency to force the ink through the delivery or drip pet cocks, and thereby insure the proper delivery of the ink to the inking roll.

A further object of my invention is the provision of novel means for actuating the agitator, whereby a reciprocatory movement will be imparted to the agitator longitudinally of the fountain, which movement has been found to be best suited for the agitation of the ink and the forcing of the same through the pet cocks.

A further object of my invention is the pl'ovision of novel means for automatically holding the ink fountain in a predetermined position with the pet cocks raised to a non-delivering position, whereby the delivery of ink will be prevented to the inking rolls when the press is not in operation, the arrangement of the agitator and the drive therefor being such as to automatically move the fountain with the pet cocks to a deliv ering position when the press starts to operate.

A further important object of my invention is the provision of novel means for supporting the fountain, whereby the same can be readily asso- -vide an improved inking fountain for printing presses or the like, which will be durable and 5 emcient in use, one that will be simple and easy to manufacture, andv V'one which can be placed upon the market at'a reasonable cost.

With these and other objects in view, the invention consists in the novel construction, ar- 10 rangement, and formation of parts, as will be hereinafter more specifically described, claimed, and illustrated in theaccompanying drawing, in which:-

Figure lis a side elevation of my improved ink- 15 ing fountain and the support therefor, parts of the device being shown broken away and in section to illustrate structural details.

Figure 2 is a transverse section taken on line 2--2 of Figure 1, looking in the direction of the co arrows, showing the fountain in its operative position during the running of the press.

Figure 3 Vis an end elevation of the fountain showing the same in its inoperative position with the pet cocks elevated when the press is idle.

Figure 4 is a fragmentary top plan view illustrating the novel drive for the agitator.

Referring to the drawing in detail, wherein similar reference characters designate corresponding parts throughout the several views, the l0 letter F generally indicates my improved ink fountain, and S the novel support therefor. My improved fountain F embodies a substantially cylindrical casing i D having ,end walls or discs l l and l2. The cylindrical `casing is provided with a longitudinally 4,extending opening I3 located at the top thereof to permit the introduction of the ink therein. The endwall il carries a casting I3, which may be bolted, as at I, to the end wall, or cast thereon ,as an integral part thereof. The 4D casting i3 is ,of an open frame-like construction, and one side thereof supports a guide l5 for the reciprocatory crosshead I5. This crosshead IB has rigidly bolted thereto, as at Il, an operating rod I3, which extends longitudinally of `the 45 fountain. :The fountain carries suitable bearing guides lrfor the operating rod.

Rotatably supported in the casting it!l by bearings 2ii is a cross shaft 2i, one end of which has connected therewith a crank wheel 22. Thecrank 60 wheel 22 adjustably supports the crank p in 23, which is received'zwith a slot 24 formed in the crosshead I6. As shown, the crank wheel is provided with a plurality of openings 25, whereby the crank pincanbe connected in different po- 5l;

toV

sitions thereon to regulate the stroke of the crosshead and rod I8. Suitably secured to the cross shaft 2| is a bevelled pinion 26, which meshes with a bevelled Vdrive gear 21, connected or otherwise secured to an axially disposed shaft 28 rotatably carried by the bracket or casting I3. A flexible drive shaft 29 is coupled with the shaft 28, and this flexible drive shaft can be driven from any suitable operatingpart of the press. It is to be noted at this point that the bracket or casting I3 is provided with a bearing sleeve 3U, Vthe purpose of which will be later set forth.

The end wall or head I2 of the fountain supports at its axial center a stub shaft 3|, which is in longitudinal alinement withY the bearing sleeve 30 carried by the bracket or casting I3. The shaft 3| and the bearing sleeve 30 are rotatably received within bearing sleeves 32 and 33 formedA on the ends of hanger arms 34 and 35. These hanger arms carry at their opposite ends sleeves 36, which are firmly secured to thel hanger rod 31. The hanger rod 31 is in turn received in supporting clamps 38, which are rigidly connected to a part of the press conveniently located to the inking roll (not shown).

The rod 31 can be turned in the clamps 38 so that the ink fountain can be disposed in a preferred adjusted position relative to the roll to be inked. When the fountain is adjusted to' the desired position, the clamps are tightened so that the roll will be held against further turning movement.

Arranged within the ink fountain F is my novel agitator 39. The agitator 39 extends longitudinally of the fountain, and is located in relatively close proximity to the bottom wall thereof. The agitator is of a grid-like construction and includes longitudinally extending side bars -43 and transversely extending connecting cross bars 4I. These bars 4I are equally spaced and the same have their lower faces rounded as at 42, for a purpose which will be later set forth. It is to be also noted that the grid or agitator is shaped to conform to the curvature of the fountain. Connected to the agitator are brackets 43, and these brackets receive a hanger or support 44 firmly secured as at 45 to the operating rod I8.

From the description so far it can be seen that when the flexible drive shaft 29 rotates, movement Will be imparted to the crosshead I6, which will in turn impart reciprocatory movement to the agitator.

Movement of the agitator will thoroughly mix up the ink, and the rounded faces 42 will have a tendency to force the ink out through the longitudinal row of cocks 46 carried by the wall of the ink fountain. 'Ihe provision of the automatically operated agitator prevents the solid parts of the ink from settling to the bottom of the fountain, and also insures a proper delivery of the ink to the pet cocks. The pet cocks are initially adjusted to allow the desired drip or flow of ink therethrough, and after the pet cocks are adjusted the same are normally left in this condition, in that means is provided for automatically shutting off the flow of ink to prevent the delivery of ink to the inkingroll when the press stops operating.

As brought out above, the ink fountain is rotatably supported by hangers 34 and 35, and rigidly bolted to the bracket or casting I3 is a weight This weight 41 is arranged off center and opposite to the pet cocks 46. Consequently the Weight tends to rotate the ink fountain in clockwise direction (referring to Figures 2 and 3). Spaced stops 48 and 43 are carried by the end wall I2 of the fountain, and these stops are located on opposite sides of the hanger arm 35 5 and tend to limit the rotation of the ink fountain. Consequently, when the agitator 39 is not in operation, the weight 41 will rotate the fountain and hold the pet cocks 46 in a raised position, as clearly shown in Figure 3. 10

When the agitator is in operation the same meets with resistance from the ink in the fountain. Consequently, a drag or bind is caused on the driving mechanism, which tends to rotate the fountain in a counter-clockwise direction. 15 The fountain then rotates and the pet cocks are disposed lowermost, and the sarne are held in that position due to engagement of the stop pin 48 with the hanger arm 35. As soon as the press ceases operation the weight 41 will return the ,o pet cocks to a raised position.

I lay particular stress on the support S, in that the same forms a convenient and universal type of means for connecting the fountain to presses, and permits the fountain to be readily associated g5 with presses of different types, and allows the positioning of the fountain above the desired inking roll.

From the foregoing description it can be seen that I have provided a novel form of ink foun- 30 tain which is automatically shut oi and on by the press, and which will thoroughly agitate the ink, preventing the settling of solid substances to the bottom of the fountain and permitting the use of ink mixtures to form a special color. If 35 preferred, the weight 41 can be adjustably mounted on a supporting rod 50 carried by the bracket or casting, so that the correct position thereof can be obtained best suited for the swinging of the fountain. o

Changes in details may be made without departing from'the spirit or scope of my invention, but what I claim as new isz- 1. An ink fountain for printing presses comprising a casing having a longitudinal row of out- 5 lets, an agitator in said casing disposed adjacent to the inner surface of the outer wall thereof, means for reciprocating the agitator including an operating rod connected with the agitator, a

crosshead connected with the rod, a cross shaft 50' prising a casing having a longitudinal row of out- 55 lets, an axially disposed stub shaft carried by one end of the casing, a bracket carried by the opposite end of the casing having a bearing sleeve in axial alinement with the stub shaft, hanger arms rotatably receiving the stub shaft and bearing 50 sleeve, means adjustably supporting the hanger arms, a drive shaft rotatably mounted in the bearing sleeve, means for rotating the drive shaft, an agitator reciprocally mounted within the casing, and means for reciprocating the agitator 05 from the drive shaft.

3. An ink fountain for printing presses comprising a casing having a longitudinal row of outlets, an axially disposed stub shaft carried by one end of the casing, a bracket carried by the 70 opposite end of the casing having a bearing sleeve in axial alinement with the stub shaft, hanger arms rotatably receiving the stub shaft and bearing sleeve, means adjustably supporting the hanger arms, a drive shaft rotatably 'IIS mounted in the bearing sleeve, means for rotating the drive shaft, an agitator reciprocally mounted within the casing, means for reciprocating the agitator from the drive shaft, and a weight normally tending toy rotate the casing on the stub shaft and bearing sleeve for holding the outlets in a raised position.

4. An ink fountain for printing presses comprising a casing having a longitudinal row of outlets, an axially disposed stub shaft carried by one end of the casing, a bracket carried by the opposite end of the casing having a bearing sleeve 4in axial alinement with the stub shaft, hanger arms rotatably receiving the stub shaft and bearing sleeve, means adjustably supporting the hanger arms, a drive shaft rotatably mounted in the bearing sleeve, means for rotating the -drive shaft, an agitator reciprocally mounted Within the casing, means for reciprocating the agitato-r from the drive shaft, a Weight normally tending to rotate the casing on the stub shaft and bearing sleeve for holding the outlets in a raised position, the agitator acting as a drag during the reciprocation thereof for moving the outlets to a lowermost position.

5. An ink fountain for printing presses comprising a casing having a longitudinal roW of outlets, an axially disposed stub shaft carried by one end of the casing, a bracket carried by the opposite end of the casing having a bearing sleeve in axial alinement with the stub shaft, hanger arms rotatably receiving the stub shaft and bearing sleeve, means adjustably supporting the hanger arms, a drive shaft rotatably mounted in the bearing sleeve, means for rotating the drive shaft, an agitator reciprocally mounted Within the casing, means for reciprocating the agitator from the drive shaft, a Weight normally tending to rotate the casing on the stub shaft and bearing sleeve for holding the outlets in a raised position, the agitator acting as a drag during the reciprocation thereof for moving the outlets to a lowermost position, and means for limiting the turning movement of the casing in both directions.

6. In an ink fountain for printing presses, a casing having a longitudinal row of outlets, a

longitudinally extending agitator arranged in the casing adjacent to the inner face of the side Wall thereof, means for reciprocating the agitator, said agitator including side rails and cross rails having arcuate lower faces.

7. An ink fountain of the drip type for printing presses disposed at all times out of contact with the inking rolls, comprising a casing having a plurality of delivery outlets, and automatic means for rendering said outlets inoperative upon the stopping of the press.

8. An ink fountain of the drip type for printing presses disposed at all times out of contact with the inking rolls, comprising a casing having a plurality of vdelivery outlets, means for automatically rendering said outlets inoperative upon the stopping of the press, and means rendering said outlets automatically operative upon the operation of the press.

9. An ink fountain for printing presses comprising a casing-having a plurality of outlets, means for regulating the iiovv of ink through the outlets, and automatic means in said casing for continuously agitating the ink and urging the same toward the outlets `during the operation of the press.

10. An ink fountain for printing presses comprising a casing having a longitudinal roW of outlets, a drive shaft, means for rotating the drive shaft, an agitator reciprocatively mounted Within the casing, and means for reciprocating the agitator from the drive shaft.

11. An ink fountain for printing presses comprising a casing having a longitudinal rovv of outlets, an axially disposed stub shaft carried by one end of the casing, a bearing sleeve carried by the opposite end of the casing in axial alinement with the stub shaft, a drive shaft rotatably mounted in the bearing sleeve, means for supporting the stub shaft and bearing sleeve, means for rotating the drive shaft, an agitator reciprocatively mounted Within the casing, means for reciprocating the agitator from the drive shaft, and a Weight normally tending to rotate the casing on the stub shaft and bearing sleeve for holding the outlets in a raised position.

JOSEPH E'. MCMULLEN. 

